Determining the Concentration of Citric Acid Using Titration

Pre-Laboratory Questions:
1. (a) Define titrimetric analysis. (b) Differentiate titrand and titrant.

2. Classify the four groups of titrimetry based on the type of reaction.

3. (a)Differentiate equivalence point and endpoint. (b) What is method error or

titration error? (c) What is the importance of using indicators in titration
analysis? (d) What is titration curve?

4. Classify the following acid as monoprotic, diprotic and triprotic.

Acid Answer Acid Answer
Hydrochloric acid Citric acid
Sulphuric acid Nitric acid
Arsenic acid Oxalic acid
Acetic acid Carbonic acid
Phosphoric acid

5. Classify the following bases as monoprotic, diprotic and triprotic.

Bases Answer
Barium Hydroxide
Sodium Hydroxide
Phosphate ion
Potassium hydroxide
Sulfate ion
Ammonia

6. (a) Provide the formula for the computation of the moles of titrant reacting with
the analyte. (b) Provide the titration formula (if the titrant and analyte is 1:1
ratio)

Objective:

At the end of the experiment, the students should be able:

1. To determine the amount of citric acid in a variety of energy drinks by titrating the
sample with sodium hydroxide.

Introduction:

Citric acid is considered as a weak acid that can be naturally found especially in citrus fruits,
that is usually used as an additive in many popular drinks like soft drinks and energy drinks.
It is known to improve the taste and flavor of the drinks. However, in higher concentrations
it can cause softening, erosion and damage to tooth enamel.

Acids can be classified as monoprotic, diprotic and triprotic:

Example:
Monoprotic : HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq)  H2O (l) + NaCl (aq)
Diprotic : H2SO4 (aq) + 2 NaOH(aq)  2H2O(l) + Na2SO4 (aq)
Triprotic: H3PO4 (aq) + 3 NaOH(aq)  3H2O(l) + Na3PO4(aq)

Polyprotic acid are acids with more than one proton (hydrogen) and, one example is the
citric acid which is considered as a weak polyprotic acid and in the presence of sodium
hydroxide it results with the following reaction:

H3C6O7 (aq) + 3 NaOH (aq)  3H2O(l) + Na3C6H5O7 (aq)

Titration method is considered as simple, accurate, precise and rapid method to determine
citric acid concentration of commercially available sodas and energy drinks. In this
experiment, energy drink will be titrated with a sodium hydroxide solution and determine
the concentration of citric acid. Before proceeding to the titration, an energy drink is made
to release its excess hydrogen carbonate by allowing to stand overnight in the beaker.

In this experiment phenolphthalein will be used as an indicator to provide a visual

information about the amount of citric acid in the energy drink. In a basic solution,
phenolphthalein turns pink while in acidic and neutral solution it remains colorless. The
endpoint of this experiment is when the indicator changes the solution from colorless to faint
pink means the reaction is complete.

Materials:
Soda
Group 1 – Redbull energy drink
Group 2 – Monster energy drink
Group 3 – Booster C energy shot
Group 4 – Cobra energy drink
Group 5 – Sting energy drink
Group 6 – Bacchus energy drink

0.10 M NaOH
10 ml graduated cylinder
50 ml burette
Burette clamp
250 ml Erlenmeyer flask
DI water
Funnel
Phenolpthalein

Protocol:
1. Rinse the burette thoroughly with DI water prior titration.
2. Fill the burette with 0.10M NaOH and record the initial volume of NaOH.
3. Pour 10ml of Sprite into a 250mL Erlenmeyer flask.
4. Add 2 drops of phenolphthalein to the soda.
 5. Swirl the flask to mix the contents.
6. Slowly add NaOH to the soda until faint pink color is obtained.
Note: Place the flask against a white background to help see the color change.
7. Swirl the flask until the pink color remains for 10 seconds.
8. Record the final NaOH.
9. Pour the contents of the flask in the waste bottle and rinse with tap water.
10. Repeat steps two (2) to five (5) for two (2) trials.
11. Calculate the total volume of NaOH used in each trial by finding the difference
between your initial and final burette readings.
12. Calculate the average volume of NaOH used for the three trials and record the data.

EXPERIMENT 6

EXPERIMENTAL DATA and RESULTS

Volume of NaOH
Trial Initial reading of Final reading of Total Volume of
NaOH (mL) NaOH (mL) NaOH Used (mL)
1
2
3
Average Volume of NaOH : ________________________

Data Table:
Concentration of NaOH
Moles of NaOH
Mole of Citric acid
Concentration of Citric acid

Contributing Group Members (arranged alphabetically)

1. ______________________________________
2. ______________________________________
3. ______________________________________
4. ______________________________________
5. ______________________________________
6. ______________________________________
7. _______________________________________

Post Lab Questions:

 1. Calculate the concentration of a 25 mL NaOH solution if 35mL of 1.25 M HCl is needed
to titrate to the equivalence point.

2. Calculate the concentration of 35.24mL Ca(OH)2 solution if 28.35 mL of 1.21 M HNO3

is needed to titrate to the equivalence point.

3. Titration reveals that 11.6 mL of 3.0 M sulfuric acid are required to neutralize the
sodium hydroxide in 25.00 mL of NaOH solution. What is the molarity of the NaOH
solution?

4. What weight of Ba(OH)2 should be taken for analysis so that each mL of 0.1000 HCl
represents 0.50% Ba(OH)2 in the sample?

5. A 45.00 mL HCl was standardized against 1.0020g Na2CO3 which is 99.90% pure.
What is the normality of the acid?

https://studylib.net/doc/8918467/titration-lab-how-much-citric-acid-is-in-your-soda%3F
http://www.chemijournal.com/vol1Issue6/april2014/8.1.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Jd5R21tao&spfreload=10